Strike three at the City of Smiles

BACOLOD CITY —  For the third time in nearly two decades, I set foot on the City of the Smiles. The place holds a special place in my heart, both personally and professionally, because it's the site of my first ever out-of-town coverage as a sports journalist.

Way back in the summer of 1998 when I was still 17 years old and an incoming fourth year student taking up Bachelor in Secondary Education major in Social Science at the Cebu State College (now Cebu Normal University), I was sent by my mentor and former sports editor Nimrod NL Quiñones here to cover the Centennial Palarong Pambansa for The Freeman and Banat News.

I considered the week-long sports conclave as my baptism of fire as a sportswriter and I am happy to have passed it with flying colors.

Two years later, I was back in this bustling capital of Negros Occidental famed for its Masakara festival. This time for a major basketball event, penning a blow-by-blow account for Game 3 of the best-of-five Southern Conference finals in the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) between bitter rivals Cebu Gems and the Negros Slashers.

It was the first time I had a glimpse of the state-of-the-art, fully air-conditioned University of St. La Salle Coliseum, the very same arena where the sporting spectacle that is the reason of my being here now will be staged.

From a multi-sport event for elementary and secondary student-athletes all over the country to pro hoops, I'm here once again at the heart of Sugarlandia to chronicle the ground-breaking “Pinoy Pride 36:A Legend in the Making” boxing card happening tonight at the 8,000-seater USLS Coliseum.

Topbilled by the WBO light flyweight title defense of Donnie “Ahas” Nietes against Mexican challenge Raul “Rayito” Garcia, it is the biggest and grandest fistic extravaganza ever to take place in Negros Island.

And just like in my past 'tour of duty' here, I can't wait to be part of another historic moment.